The other day I was walking out of a store. A man and woman were walking toward the entrance, and I noticed the writing on the man’s T-shirt said: “Team JESUS.”
I thought to myself, “That’s nice. He’s witnessing for the Lord in a quiet, subtle way.” As the couple came closer to me, I was about to smile and say, “Hey, I like your shirt.”
But then the man turned toward the woman, and in a loud and angry voice shouted, “If that stinking jerk doesn’t knock it off, I’m gonna strangle the son of a gun!”
Except he didn’t use the words “stinking,” “jerk,” or “gun.” Instead, he used words that can only be said on streaming service TV shows rather than network broadcast shows, if you get my drift. In other words, if that man was a motion picture, he definitely would be R-rated.
As the man and woman passed me and entered the store, I was tempted to say, “Hey, I like your shirt. But if you’re gonna talk like that in public, you should leave the shirt home.”
I didn’t say anything, of course. And it would be nice if the reason I was silent was because I’m a very compassionate and understanding person, with no idea of the stress that man was under at the moment, and, therefore, I should never judge a person, let alone publicly admonish him, based on observing his behavior for all of two seconds. Yes, I wish that was why I refrained from saying anything. But the true reason is simpler: nowadays, you never know who has a gun in his pocket. Getting a couple of holes in my liver was not on my to-do list for that particular day.
That incident got me thinking about the concept of “witnessing.” As Christians, we’re called to witness for the Lord. That is, we should share our faith with others, and let them know how much our relationship with Jesus fills us with peace and joy.
In our secular culture, religious witnessing is frowned upon. It used to be that if someone talked openly about his religious faith, he often would be laughed at and called a “Jesus freak.” Ah, the good ol’ days. Now, if someone shares his faith in public, he often will be called a “hater,” and an angry social media campaign will be started to harass him and try to get him fired from his job.
As someone who feels uncomfortable witnessing about my faith in public, I’ve always liked the saying: “You don’t have to tell everyone about Jesus, but if people do find out you’re a Christian, they should not be surprised.”
Except he didn’t use the words “stinking,” “jerk,” or “gun.” Instead, he used words that can only be said on streaming service TV shows rather than network broadcast shows, if you get my drift. In other words, if that man was a motion picture, he definitely would be R-rated.
As the man and woman passed me and entered the store, I was tempted to say, “Hey, I like your shirt. But if you’re gonna talk like that in public, you should leave the shirt home.”
I didn’t say anything, of course. And it would be nice if the reason I was silent was because I’m a very compassionate and understanding person, with no idea of the stress that man was under at the moment, and, therefore, I should never judge a person, let alone publicly admonish him, based on observing his behavior for all of two seconds. Yes, I wish that was why I refrained from saying anything. But the true reason is simpler: nowadays, you never know who has a gun in his pocket. Getting a couple of holes in my liver was not on my to-do list for that particular day.
That incident got me thinking about the concept of “witnessing.” As Christians, we’re called to witness for the Lord. That is, we should share our faith with others, and let them know how much our relationship with Jesus fills us with peace and joy.
In our secular culture, religious witnessing is frowned upon. It used to be that if someone talked openly about his religious faith, he often would be laughed at and called a “Jesus freak.” Ah, the good ol’ days. Now, if someone shares his faith in public, he often will be called a “hater,” and an angry social media campaign will be started to harass him and try to get him fired from his job.
As someone who feels uncomfortable witnessing about my faith in public, I’ve always liked the saying: “You don’t have to tell everyone about Jesus, but if people do find out you’re a Christian, they should not be surprised.”
I don’t wear a “Team JESUS” T-shirt in public — mostly because I don’t own one — but I do have a colorful set of Rosary beads hanging from the rearview mirror on my car. I guess that is a small and subtle witness of my faith.
My daily commute to and from work on I-84 brings me near countless other motorists, a small number of whom actually drive carefully. The rest act as if they’re trying to win the Daytona 500. Many times after I’ve been cut off by one of these reckless drivers, I’m tempted to beep my horn and offer the “one finger salute.” But I refrain from this behavior.
It would be nice if the reason I did not flip off these aggressive drivers is because I’m a very compassionate and understanding person, with no idea of the stress the other driver may be under at the moment, and besides, it would be a terrible witness in light of the Rosary beads hanging from my mirror.
Again, the true reason is simpler: I’d rather not get shot at.
Witnessing about our faith in Christ is certainly a good thing to do. But if our method is quiet and subtle — such as wearing a Jesus shirt or hanging a Rosary from the car mirror — it’s very important that our behavior matches the message.
My daily commute to and from work on I-84 brings me near countless other motorists, a small number of whom actually drive carefully. The rest act as if they’re trying to win the Daytona 500. Many times after I’ve been cut off by one of these reckless drivers, I’m tempted to beep my horn and offer the “one finger salute.” But I refrain from this behavior.
It would be nice if the reason I did not flip off these aggressive drivers is because I’m a very compassionate and understanding person, with no idea of the stress the other driver may be under at the moment, and besides, it would be a terrible witness in light of the Rosary beads hanging from my mirror.
Again, the true reason is simpler: I’d rather not get shot at.
Witnessing about our faith in Christ is certainly a good thing to do. But if our method is quiet and subtle — such as wearing a Jesus shirt or hanging a Rosary from the car mirror — it’s very important that our behavior matches the message.
If our words and actions are allowed only on a streaming TV service or R-rated movie, then we’re probably doing it wrong.
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